The legend of Jakar was already spreading.

Jack found an empty spot against the far wall, away from the main clusters of demons.

The position gave him a clear view of the chamber's entrance and most of the interior space.

He settled against the wall, his armored back resting against the frozen surface.

The cold didn't bother him, his armor kept him warm enough.

Around him, the barracks continued its normal rhythm.

Demons gave him a wide berth, whether from respect or fear, it didn't particularly matter.

Jack's red eyes dimmed slightly behind his visor as he allowed himself to rest.

The kind of light awareness that let his body recover while keeping his mind partially alert for threats.

Time passed.

The noise in the barracks gradually decreased as more demons settled in for their own rest periods.

The constant activity never stopped completely.

There was always someone awake, but it ebbed into something more manageable.

Jack's breathing slowed, his armored form completely still against the wall.

Hours passed.

Then, someone approached.

Two demons approached from different angles.

They moved with the practiced silence of those who'd done this kind of thing before.

Opportunists who saw a sleeping soldier as an easy mark.

They weren't here to kill.

Just to satisfy curiosity. Just to see what was beneath the helmet that Jakar had threatened death to protect.

After all, who doesn't love a good joke?

The first demon crept closer from the left, his hand extending slowly toward Jack's helmet.

His claws were retracted, trying not to disturb the sleeping warrior.

The second approached from the right, ready to assist or grab the helmet once his companion loosened it.

Their fingers came within inches of the helmet's edge.

Jack's eyes flared open, burning red behind the visor.

His hands shot out with speed that defied what they thought was possible.

Clawed fingers wrapped around both demons' throats simultaneously, his iron grip was hard and unforgiving.

The two demons froze, their eyes widening as they realized their mistake.

Jack stood slowly, lifting both demons by their throats as he rose. Their feet left the ground, kicking uselessly as they clawed at his grip.

"I must not have been clear," Jack said, his voice carrying that same flat, emotionless tone even while choking the life from two demons.

"When I told Kaedor what would happen if anyone tried to remove my helmet."

The demon on his left tried to speak, his mouth working around the crushing pressure on his windpipe.

"P-please... we didn't... we're sorry..."

The other demon's eyes rolled with panic, his hands beating against Jack's armored forearm.

Jack's grip didn't loosen.

He just held them there, suspended and choking the life out of their eyes.

While his red eyes stared at them through the visor.

"No mercy for stupidity," Jack said simply.

His right leg swept up and across, his boot connecting with the first demon's knee with devastating force.

CRACK!

The bone shattered, fragmenting under the impact.

The demon's scream was strangled by Jack's grip on his throat, coming out as a wet gurgle.

His leg bent at an unnatural angle, the joint destroyed completely.

Jack released him, and the demon collapsed to the ground, clutching his ruined leg while trying desperately to draw breath through his crushed windpipe.

The second demon thrashed harder, his panic intensifying as he watched his companion's fate.

His claws dug into Jack's armor, scratching uselessly against the black and crimson plates.

Jack turned toward the weapon racks that lined the barracks walls.

He walked calmly, dragging the struggling demon with him as if carrying a sack rather than a living being.

The demon's feet scraped against the floor, his hands still fighting for freedom that wouldn't come.

Jack reached the rack and selected a sword with his free hand.

The blade was standard issue, nothing special.

He placed the demon on the ground, his hand still locked around the demon's throat, pinning him in place.

The demon's eyes went wide as he saw the sword, his struggles becoming frantic. "No! Please! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!"

Jack drove the blade down.

The sword punched through the demon's shoulder, pinning him to the floor like an insect to a board. The demon's scream tore through the barracks, high and ragged with agony.

Blood pooled beneath him, spreading across the black ice in a dark stain.

Jack released the demon's throat and straightened, leaving him pinned and screaming while he walked back to the weapon rack.

He selected another sword, this one slightly heavier, but better balanced.

Behind him, the demon with the shattered leg had managed to crawl several feet, dragging himself desperately toward the barracks entrance.

His broken leg left a trail of blood, the limb useless and twisted.

His breathing came in ragged gasps, each one harder than the last as his crushed windpipe struggled to make words.

Jack activated his Demonhand ability. Black scales rippled across his arm.

[Demonhand: ACTIVATED]

He walked toward the pinned demon calmly, the sword held loosely in his transformed hand.

The demon's screams had devolved into sobbing pleas, his free hand reaching toward Jack in supplication. "Please... I have a family... please..."

Jack raised the sword.

The blade came down in a perfect arc.

The demon's head separated from his shoulders cleanly, rolling away from the body as blood fountained from the stump. The corpse twitched before going still.

The demon with the shattered leg had made it perhaps ten feet from where he'd fallen.

His crawling had slowed, his strength failing as blood loss and pain took their toll.

He heard Jack's footsteps behind him and tried to move faster, his fingers clawing at the ice, his broken leg dragging uselessly.

Jack appeared beside him by blinking.

His transformed hand shot down, clawed fingers wrapping around the back of the demon's neck.

He lifted the struggling demon off the ground, holding him at eye level.

The demon's hands grabbed at Jack's wrist, trying to pry the grip loose. "Mercy! Please! I'll do anything! I'll serve you! I'll…."

Jack squeezed.

The crushing pressure started at the base of the skull, his clawed fingers digging into vertebrae and soft tissue.

The demon's begging cut off as his windpipe collapsed completely, his eyes bulging as he tried desperately to draw breath.

Jack squeezed harder.

CRACK!

The neck gave way, fragmenting under the pressure.

The demon's body went limp immediately, his arms falling to his sides as his spine severed.

But he wasn't dead yet. His eyes still moved, his brain still functioning for these final few seconds as shock and massive trauma overwhelmed his system.

Jack released him, letting the body crumple to the ground.

Then he raised his sword one final time.

The blade swept across in a horizontal arc, the edge catching the demon's neck cleanly.

The head rolled away from the twitching corpse, coming to rest several feet away with eyes still wide in horror.

Jack deactivated Demonhand, the black scales receding back into his armor.

He walked to the weapon rack and replaced the sword, then turned back to survey the barracks.

Every demon in the chamber was staring at him.

Some had frozen in whatever they'd been doing.

Weapons were half-cleaned and conversations abandoned mid-sentence.

Others had moved closer, drawn by the sounds of violence, witnessing the aftermath of what happened to those who disrespected Jakar's boundaries.

The silence was absolute.

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